Wanted! Complex Female Adult Character: (was:Re: ESE!McGonagall...

[caspenzoe]

No: HPFGUIDX 164673

> Alla wrote:
> > 
> > Why do we need the strong female character just for the sake of 
> > having one? What if JKR felt that good story could be written 
> > **only** with the male characters in it? Does she **owe** us the 
> > presence of female characters in the story? I would say not at all. 
> > Just as if she wished to write a story about women only, as long as 
> > it is good story, IMO it is all that counts.
> 
> Julie:
> I never said nor think that JKR "owes" us well-developed female
> characters, I just pointed out that the male characters are for
> the most part more well-developed and multi-layered than the 
> female characters (especially the adult ones). 

Caspen: 

I'm just curious whether it bothers Alla at all that, although JKR 
doesn't "owe" us "a strong female [adult] character," she has in fact, 
claimed to have provided one, and gone on to promise to develop Lilly 
and Petunia further on several occasions, and even, implicitly, 
Minerva, and yet, she has not done so. Nor, given the amount of 
territory she seems to have left to cover, does it seem at all likely 
that she ever will, if as she also says, her HP books will be limited 
to seven. In short, she seems to have lied, something she claims she 
doesn't do.

While I don't think a strong adult female character is neccessarily 
owed, I do think it would improve her work immensely. If you follow any 
literary analysis, such as that of John Granger, for instance, you know 
that JKR is arguably working within a very long literary tradition, to 
which the addition of any, if not a powerful, true female perspective, 
would, IMO be really innovative and contribute a real greatness to the 
work. As it stands, she seems to have missed that boat. I expect, after 
the last book is published, and the suspense has subsided, she'll have 
consigned herself to notability, when she was capable of more. 

Oh well. What do you think Julie?

Caspen